Preview

Examples Of Superstition In Huckleberry Finn

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
220 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of Superstition In Huckleberry Finn
In books it is sometimes hard to tell who controls the power because the author wants it to make it discrete. In other books it is obvious from the beginning, and the author wants the reader to know. In Huck Finn, superstition appears throughout the novel. Generally, both Huck and Jim are very rational characters, yet when they encounter anything slightly superstitious, irrationality takes over. In addition, superstition foreshadows the plot at several key junctions. For instance, when Huck spills salt, Pap returns, and when Huck touches a snakeskin with his bare hands, a rattlesnake bites Jim. The power superstition holds over the two demonstrates that Huck and Jim are childlike despite their apparent maturity. Ironically, Huck often knows

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain makes use of various rhetorical strategies to convey a humorous atmosphere for his readers. Literary techniques such as Allusion, Irony, and use of the unexpected are all expressed within the book, particularly Chapter 14, in an abundance of ways.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Example 1: The first example of satire is from chapter 16 when a homeowner sees Jim and thinks that he is an intruder and sends his dogs on to him, then as soon as he realizes that Huck is with him he calls them off, this is a form of satire because it is funny because people often do that to people depending on their race, as in racial profiling. For example if he had seen Huck first he may not have sent his dogs onto them.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    An archetype is defined as a universally understood pattern of behavior or a prototype upon which others are copied or patterned. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was and still is the basis for which authors use for their characters in their writing.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racist: having or showing the belief that one race is superior to the other. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain the protagonist, Huckleberry Finn goes on an adventure down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave named Jim. During their time together we see Huck battle with his opinions of Jim due to the societal standards that Huck has lived with his whole life. Huck develops a positive relationship with Jim throughout the novel but still treats Jim with behaviors of racism. In the work Huck Finn; The Racist Protagonist by Laura Otten, she states that examples throughout the novel show that Huckleberry Finn is racist; which happens to be true.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Superstition is an abstract fret that is prominent in many place in the world. People have a consensus that certain animals or numbers bring or give bad/good luck. Specifically in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, a fictional story that takes place in 1850s, in the narrative exists characters in that are very superstitious. As a result, by showing his main characters, Huck and Jim’s complete and sincere beliefs in Superstition, Twain exposes the ridiculous beliefs of society a the time, adds suspense to the story, and shows how day to day life is impacted by it. Nonetheless, this essay will show what idea the writer wishes to convey about Superstition.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: is a novel that illustrates the social limitations which American Civilization imposes on individual freedom (Smith.1985, p.47-49)."…

    • 1473 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn is a character full of vivacity and personality who very much enjoys defying authority, being in nature, and being foolish with his best friend Tom Sawyer. However, once Huck and Jim steal away on a canoe and raft down the Mississippi River, Huck finds that he cannot pull off the same foolish pranks that he did beforehand; he is faced with the challenge of having to grow up. The first of Huck’s attempts at tomfoolery occurs when Huck thinks it would be clever to kill a rattlesnake and put it in Jim’s knapsack. Unbeknownst to Huck, the dead rattlesnake’s mate had crawled inside Jim’s resting area and bit his ankle. Although the prank turned out to be rather harmless, it could have ended in a fatal disaster. Huck says “…I warn’t going to let Jim find out it was all my fault, not if I could help it” (64.) Huck is afraid of Jim finding out it was he who put Jim in this predicament; perhaps his intentions were unconscious, but I think Huck did not want to lose Jim’s respect because they are all one another has.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sentiment can be easily be stimulated from the readers by writing tender and sorrowful scenes. However, sentiment can also come from angry self-reflexive irony. Instead of the typical sentiment of warmness and sympathy, a different type of sentiment is produced from the words and actions of Daniel. The way he behaved so atrociously to his wife, but then reflected about what he did by addressing to the readers is quite ironic. One moment he is malicious to Phyllis, then the next he tried to pathetically appeal to the audience over his actions; the feeling of what is wrong with him is given by the readers. He does not truly reflect over his actions, but he uses his words to make it seem like he is reflecting to the readers. Doctorow is trying…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huckleberry Finn

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout the book, it is hinted and notified that Huck Finn is the narrator. As the reader continues to read, he or she realizes the amount of slang and many misspelled words. The Book is written through Huck's perspective. Because Huck has many misspelled words, slang and, grammatical errors, I can conclude that he is uneducated in literature.…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    with a loaf of bread and some quicksilver. "I only had a bite to eat. Well, then…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huck continually shows these attributes throughout the book. It is shown when he first questions Tom about the Arabs, showing his independent thinking. His independence is very evident by his opinions of society. The woods are where Finn displays a heightened sense of independence, because he sees nature as a safe haven away from others, a place where he can vent off the dilemmas in his life, a place where he can be alone. His independence continually grows and is more clearly shown when he decides to help Jim. He is also shown to be very independent throughout the journey; nobody but himself can help Jim because of social…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the present day, controversy over several key issues in the world runs rampant. Controversy over race, gender, and identity values plague the day to day happenings of everyone connected to the outside world. This is not unusual, however. Even in the 1800s, controversy was unrestrained over issues that are similar to the ones today. A prime example of such controversy is demonstrated in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. The controversy centered around the moral and religious values of the book was pressing back in the 19th century, and is as present today. It is claimed that such controversy could have been avoided, simply if the book did not contain the controversial moral and religious aspects it is centered on, like the…

    • 1757 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thesis: Irony is heavily used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through religion, racism, and the fact that Jim is a free man throughout the majority of the novel.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How often do you get a gut feeling that something is right or wrong? Do you follow your gut? In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a boy named Huck always trusts his instincts and follows his gut, but doing so sometimes leads him into trouble. Huck basically raises himself, not relying on parental guidance to do what is right. In the novel, Huck follows his gut feeling of right or wrong, which subsequently leads him to accept the norms of society through guilt and family.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Satire in Huckleberry Finn

    • 1809 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In chapters 1-4 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain's characters tend to get worked up over the silliest of superstitions. In the second chapter, when Huck accidentally flicks a spider into a flame, he, “Was so scared and most shook the clothes off [him]” (Twain 3). He counters the burden that the dead spider will bring by performing plenty of even more odd acts like turning around while crossing his breast and tying up a lock of his hair to ward off the witches. Huck is still anxious because he hadn't been told that any of those counter charms were good for removing the penance of killing a spider. Most superstitions throughout these chapters stem from one person telling another of an irrational belief they hold as the truth like Jim's “magical” hair-ball that he profits off of by telling people very vague fortunes (Twain 17-18). Some of these fortunes come true, so people tell others about the miraculous magic hair-ball.…

    • 1809 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays